How to compress images on a Chromebook

Chrome OS doesn’t exactly have a lot of graphic tools available for users to take advantage of. This means, if you need to compress a JPG or PNG file, you might be out of luck. Thankfully, Chromebooks can run Linux applications. So, if you need to compress images on your Chromebook, follow along with this guide.

How to enable Linux support on your Chromebook

The Image Optimizer application can be used on your Chromebook to compress images. However, it is a Linux application, so you must enable Linux support before you can use it. Thankfully, Chrome OS makes it very easy to enable Linux support.

Click on the clock in the Chrome OS taskbar. Then, select the “Gear” icon. Clicking on the “Gear” icon will open the Chrome OS settings area. From here, find the “Advanced” section, and click on it to reveal its options.

Inside the “Advanced” section, scroll down and locate the “Developers” area. In the “Developers” area, find the “Linux development environment” section, and click the button to install Linux.

The Linux container will take some time to download and install on your computer. When the process is complete, Chrome OS will automatically launch a terminal window.

In the terminal window, type in the apt update to check for any updates that may be available. It is important to keep the Chrome OS Linux container up to date.

sudo apt update

After checking for updates, you’ll need to enter the apt upgrade command to install any pending upgrades available for the Chrome OS container.

sudo apt upgrade

How to install Image Optimizer on Chrome OS

Image Optimizer is a Flatpak app, so you need to enable Flatpak support on your Chromebook before you install it. To enable Flatpak support on Chrome OS, start by launching a terminal.

Unsure about how to launch a terminal window on your Chromebook? Open up the Chrome OS app launcher, and search for “terminal.” Then, launch it. Once it is open, click on the “penguin” option to access the Linux command-line interface.

Using the apt install command, set up the “flatpak” package. This package handles Flatpak apps in the Linux container, so it is very important to install.

sudo apt install flatpak

After installing the “flatpak” package, the setup isn’t over. You’ll now need to enable the Flathub app store. This app store gives users access to apps like Image Optimizer, and other programs which can be found on flathub.org.

Using the flatpak command below, add support for Flathub to your Chromebook.

flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Now that you’ve added Flathub support to your Chromebook, you can install the Image Optimizer application via the flatpak install command below.

flatpak install flathub com.github.gijsgoudzwaard.image-optimizer

Once the Image Optimizer application is set up on your Chromebook, the app will be available for use in the “Linux apps” folder.

How to compress images on a Chromebook

To compress images on your Chromebook, you must first add image files to the “Linux files” area. Open up the Chrome OS File manager and select your image files. Then, right-click on them and select “Copy.”

Once you’ve selected “Copy,” find the “Linux files” in the sidebar and click on it with the mouse. Then, right-click on a space to paste your image files into the “Linux files” area.

After adding your files to the “Linux files” area, open up the Chrome OS app menu, and locate the “Linux apps” folder. Then, click on “Image Optimizer” to launch it on Chrome OS.

With the Image Optimizer app open on your Chromebook, find the “Browse files” button underneath the “Drag and drop images here” message. Then, use the pop-up menu to add your images to the Image Optimizer app.

When your image files are added to Image Optimizer, it will automatically begin compressing your images. It’ll also show you how much space you’ve saved in the “Savings” column.

To access your images, open up the Chrome OS Files app, and select the “Linux files” section in the sidebar. You’ll then be able to access the image files you’ve compressed with the Image Optimizer app.

How to compress multiple images at once

You do not have to add one image at a time to compress them in Image Optimizer. If you wish to compress multiple files, do the following. First, open up the Image Optimizer app. Then, select “Browse files.”

After choosing the “Browse files” button, hold down the Ctrl button, and select your images. By holding down the Ctrl button, you can select multiple image files.